ARTICLES ABOUT OVERRIDE BY DATE - PAGE 3

I am very pleased to see that our Congress is finally considering the subject of stem cell research. With much work by our scientists, there is an excellent chance that in a decade or so, we shall understand the DNA and the RNA of our chromosomes so that mankind can correct the diabetes, the cancers, the spinal cord transections, Parkinsonism and the various medical scourges that affect our society. There are countless embryos that will be sent to medical garbage cans to be discarded because they are no longer needed for reproductive purposes.

Perkasie Council kicked off its two-year session Tuesday by voting to override a mayoral veto and moving forward with a takeover of the borough's water and sewer provider. The anticipated vote was taken shortly after the Perkasie Borough Authority voted during its own meeting to hire a Harrisburg lawyer to advise them on the legal implications of a takeover. The moves come two weeks after council voted to hire two consultants to study if an authority takeover is in the borough's best interest and then passed a carefully worded ordinance that outlines the takeover, but gives council an out if the study is unfavorable.

Echoing a theme he first raised publicly in his unsuccessful 2003 run, Allentown council candidate Charlie Thiel said Tuesday that performance audits would lower costs and improve services for the city. "Performance audits give us an objective measurement of what's going on," he said at a news conference outside City Hall. Thiel, a Republican, is running for one of four seats on council. He faces incumbents Julio Guridy and David M. Howells Sr., both Democrats, and Tom Burke, a Republican.

As expected, Northampton County Council voted Thursday to override the county executive's veto of a new purchasing law. The law takes away some of the executive's authority to sign contracts without getting council approval. Council now must endorse most negotiated contracts of $100,000 or more. The previous purchasing law did not require council to approve negotiated contracts unless they reached $1 million. The purchasing law dictates how millions of taxpayer dollars are spent on goods and services each year.

Allentown voters will not get to decide this November whether to dump the city's strong mayor form of government for a system in which City Council hires a professional manager to run government's day-to-day affairs. Council on Wednesday night could not override Mayor Roy C. Afflerbach's veto of a ballot question to make the change, as four of seven council members voted against the override. In the end, the prevailing opinion was that a government study committee should be convened to fully study all possible forms of municipal government, to make a wider array of changes to the city's oft-criticized home rule charter and to gather public support for change.

A story that appeared in some editions July 29 with the headline "Group: Override initiative veto," misstated the affiliation of Pamela Varkony. She is a member of the Greater Allentown Committee. In Sunday's weekly lottery roundup, the New Jersey Pick 6 numbers for July 25 were: 13-16-22-31-35-42. The numbers were inadvertently repeated for July 26. There was no Pick 6 drawing that day. The Pennsylvania Match 6 numbers for July 26 were missing. They were: 2-5-8-11-39-49.

A civic group called on Allentown City Council on Thursday to override the mayor's veto of a ballot initiative to change the city's form of government. Mayor Roy C. Afflerbach rejected a bill that would allow voters to decide in November whether to keep the current strong-mayor government or have a council-hired city manager who would assume key duties. One reason he cited was the opinion by assistant city solicitor Chuck Burianek that said the ballot question is illegal because it calls for such a sweeping change without an elected charter study commission being convened first.

Perhaps I have been misinformed. I always believed that there is no higher power in this nation than the U.S. Supreme Court, and I do believe that the Supreme Court has already made its determination in the Terri Schiavo case. It decided that due process has been served, and that the determination of the state of Florida was fair and just, and needs no further investigation. Congress and President Bush decided that the decision of the U.S. Supreme Court is not good enough, and they scurried to pass a law that tried to circumvent that decision, being certain that they must "err on the side of life."

As City Council and Mayor Roy C. Afflerbach head for a budget showdown at tonight's council meeting, they have a fundamental disagreement over the revenues that underlie the city's 2005 spending plan. To balance the budget with a 19 percent tax increase, council has predicted the city will bring in $1.64 million more in revenue next year than Afflerbach projected in his own budget plan. "I really don't have any idea how they came up with those numbers other than wishful thinking," said Barbara Bigelow, Afflerbach's finance director.

Warning of deep cuts in city services and up to 53 layoffs, Allentown Mayor Roy C. Afflerbach vetoed City Council's 2005 budget Monday. The veto will bring the budget battle to a head Wednesday night -- when council will need five votes to override Afflerbach and cement in place its budget with a whittled-down, 19 percent tax increase. On Friday, Afflerbach asked council to recall the budget its members passed on Dec. 8 in order to renegotiate its 4.5 percent spending cut. But the mayor said he learned from city solicitor Robert W. Brown that such a move might invite a legal challenge, and was ill-advised.